14 SCHOLARSHIPS AWARDED IN HONOR OF SLAIN OFFICER'S MEMORY

Three and a half years after Officer Brian Aselton was fatally shot on the job, memories of him have not faded.

A few feet from a framed picture of him and a poem in the police department lobby, his twin sister and his brother gave out $14,000 worth of scholarships in his name Wednesday.

Fourteen scholarships of $1,000 each went to sons and daughters of East Hartford, Hartford and South Windsor police officers who are pursuing a college education. It was the fourth such ceremony.

One of the students who received the award was Katie Shannon, a freshman who will begin studying education at the University of Connecticut next week.

"It's a nice way to keep the memory of a police officer's life," said her mother, Nancy Shannon, wife of East Hartford Officer John Shannon.

Thanks in part to a hugely successful motorcycle run in Aselton's name in June, the Brian A. Aselton Memorial Scholarship fund had about $90,000 until Wednesday, said John Aselton, Brian's brother and a Newington police officer.

The Aseltons said it helps them to take something positive from such a horrific event. Brian Aselton, who grew up in South Windsor, was shot in the head Jan. 23, 1999, when he unexpectedly walked in on a violent robbery in a Main Street apartment while following up on a call.

"If you can make something good out of a tragedy, it makes us feel good," John Aselton said.